Rusty body bolt removal?

Yesterday I tried to remove one the seatbelt anchor bolts from my 83 suburban, and I couldn't get it out. I used PB Blaster and a 2' breaker bar and applied enough force that I was starting to strip the Torx head on the bolt.

I don't have much experience working on old cars and I'm wondering how to proceed next. I have some ideas but I don't if they make sense or not. I could grind the bolt off and replace it with a racecar seat belt anchor bolt. I could get a torch and try heating either the bolt or the anchor it's screwed into. I suppose I could try drilling it out but I'd guess it's a very hard bolt.

Anyone have any suggestions on what to try next?

Thanks,

Joel,

Angle grinder and grind them off. Rusty = weak so it might not be a bad idea to replace all the bolts, washers, and nuts with the same grade you took off. It will be either grade 5 or grade 8. Any decent hardware store can match them up.

Heat up the bold then put some candlewax on it let it cool down then try again it work's most of the time by my project's

I have had good luck(be sure noting will burn) by heating the nut red hot and quickly quenching the nut when cool can sometimes remove by hand. I am sure there is now some damage to the thread on your current project. Ed ke6bnl

I'd try heating it and such before cutting the head off.. Seems you'd have even more work to get the rest of the bolt out after cutting the head off.

This is the way I do it.

Get a cup of water, a wire welder and a pair of vice grips.

Weld a blob of metal onto the nut about 3/8ths - 1/2 of an inch in diameter. Pour the water onto the blob of weld. Attach the vice grips to the blob and wind out the nut.

Works every time. The science is pretty obvious.

Let the PB work for at least a day or two. If you can, wrap the entire bolt/nut with a cloth soaked in PB, covered with plastic and bound with electrical tape. Befor you begin wrenching, apply several sharp hits with a ballpeen hammer. Make sure your wrench is tight on the bolt. Turn both ways, very slightly. The object is to break the rust's initial hold. Feel for the slightest movement of the bolt. Stop turning and hit with hammer again. These don't have to be hard blows- just jarring. If the bolt is in a loose or flopping area, back it up with a steel object. Don't try to turn the bolt too much one way. If it doesn't break loose in 10 min of trying, quit and re-apply the wrap for another day. Can't miss.

Niko

I doused it good before I gave up on Sunday. I wont get a chance to hack at it today, but I will give it another squirt if there is any light left when I get home today and it will have a few more days to soak before I get to it again.

If the PB & hammering trick doesn't work, I will try a torch before I get out the angle grinder.

Hopefully it will come out without resorting to the angle grinder.

Thanks to all that replied!!!

I hope by torch you mean ox/acetylene. I never had any luck with propane. But with Ox/Ace I have only failed once.

What I have alson found that works are those nut splitters, I have cheapo one from harbor freight and it will cut tha tnut in two and even save the bold for thread cleaning later on. Ed ke6bnl

I bought one years age and have hardly used it. It seldom fits where I need it and most of the time I get broken studs more than bolts